INHALE is a cultural platform where artists are presented, where great projects are given credit and readers find inspiration.
Think about Inhale as if it were a map: we can help you discover which are the must-see events all over the world, what is happening now in the artistic and cultural world as well as guide you through the latest designers’ products. Inhale interconnects domains that you are interested in, so that you will know all the events, places, galleries, studios that are a must-see.
We have a 360 degree overview on art and culture and a passion to share.

'Biography' presents a wide selection of works from Elmgreen & Dragset's complex universe, including sculpture, performance and interactive installations. Works from the late 1990s onwards will be shown together with recent projects, ...

Gagan Singh is a self-taught furniture and modern lighting designer. Raised in Air Force family, Gagan combined his passion for furniture design and love for aviation into one unique vocation, designing functional aviation art furniture and modern lighting accents. Gagan started his career in advertising communication. After 18 years of communication design and multiple international awards including One Show Design London, New York Festivals Midas, he took his passion for world-class design into third dimension.

Quote: “I’m an aviator, I love to soar up high and when on ground I let my imagination fly.”
Gagan Singh /aviator, designer, dreamer

About the competition:A’ Design Competition had over 5641 participants & 12523 entries in 105 categories from 208 countries.

On April 15, results will be final and available through A’ Design Competition. On August 9, 2014, gala-night and celebration will take place in Como, Italy. Exhibition will be held on August 3 to 25.

What does winning A’ Design award mean for Gagan Design Studio?
A’Design Award is very prestigious and we‘re very excited to have won it. It is epitome for top design and innovation. Like any award of similar stature, A’Design is a platform that furthers great design by bringing the best at one lace and inspiring many others.
A’ Design Award and Competition is the worlds’ largest design competition awarding best designs, design concepts and products & services.
(You can read more here: http://www.whatisadesignaward.com/)
In a world where there are millions of products and designs launch each year, the award was born out of the desire to underline the best designs and well designed products. The award-winning products and designs are highlighted to the international public via the A’ Design Award Gala-Night and Exhibition in Italy and they are communicated to all relevant press across the world.
For Gagan Design winning A’Design is an affirmation of being world-class and that our efforts in design development, bringing the best to the consumer is recognized by none other than the best in class.
It further inspires us to create better and more meaningful products for the discerning on a daily basis. Our quest is be better tomorrow than we were yesterday.

photo gagan-design.com

Sometimes it’s more difficult to keep things simple. How did you get to this very minimal shape for Peg lamp?
Very rightly said. Simplicity isn’t a simple process. To me it’s like solving an algebra equation where you start with complex jumbled up equation and you simplify it at every step to arrive at the simplest possible.
There’ s a lot of design development that happens towards creation of a minimal looking product that performs to the maximum.
I wanted to design a lamp that is modern, minimal and aesthetically beautiful standing on a desk. Modern design also tends to get very industrial, machined and sterile at times. So my quest was to offer best of both worlds; clean modern design and handcrafted warmth of the old world. With that in mind, many sketches and prototypes later the Peg-Lamp was born.
The Peg Lamp is also technologically savvy and friendly to the environment. It uses low energy consuming LEDs.
It’s a smart and simple desk lamp that sits at an angle with the help of its red pegged stand. The thin wooden frame houses LEDs, which put off warm, diffuse light with great energy efficiency. The thin, angular design pairs form and function for a finished product that is stunning and modern.

Few quotes by legends that come to my mind regarding simplicity that I find inspiring:
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” ― Leonardo da Vinci
“Nothing is more simple than greatness; indeed, to be simple is to be great.”

photo gagan-design.com

Looking at your work, one sees that colours are of a great importance. The furniture is very powerfully coloured, which gives an energy boost, while the lamps have a calming colour. How do you decide on the colours?

Our Aviation furniture is a contrast to the Lighting design but both have a streak of playfulness and zest to them by making use of accent colours. I don’t like things monotonous and sterile. Adding a bright fabric cord not only creates a balance but also lets the consumer customize the lamps to their taste.
While the lamps can be customized to consumers taste the Aviation furniture is inspired by the history and heritage behind the aircrafts the parts came from. For instance the striking ‘red’ on the C45 Expeditior couches are inspired by the ‘red’ of the Royal Canadian Air Force. The plane was essentially bare polished metal with striking Canadian red.
And so are other pieces. The desk pushes the boundaries a little further by exaggerating the military green and finding a more modern and fresh expression of it.

photo gagan-design.com

photo gagan-design.com

It’s impressive to see how something as rough as metal coming from airplanes are turned into beautiful furniture. Tell us why you are specifically interested in this area.
I was raised in Air Force family, so love for aviation is ingrained in my genes. I combined my passion for furniture design and love for aviation into one unique vocation, designing functional aviation art furniture and modern lighting accents.
I grew around airplanes and played in them during my childhood. We used to have old decommissioned planes in our parks to play around. So it’s sad to see a lot of great planes dying a slow death rotting in open or in rubbish piles or ending up in a smelter. They served our nations good and there’s a lot of history behind them. I find them very inspiring. Flying like a bird has been an ultimate dream for the mankind and ever since the first flight the world has really taken off in every sector. Our Aviation Furniture collection is our homage to aviation. We design and build high-class furniture from vintage aircraft parts; airplanes that once flew in open skies guarding our nation and carried people around. Turning them into beautiful pieces of furniture is our way of giving second life and paying tribute to the magnificent flying machines that once touched our skies with glory.

A great man once said “I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.” He was none other than Michelangelo.
To create something magnificent out of something seemingly broken mangled piece of metal gives ultimate satisfaction and inspiration to do more.

photo gagan-design.com

From what we’ve seen, you are definitely interested in producing unique works. Why is that?

I’m interested in innovation, pushing imagination and boundaries. That gives me happiness and also to the people who buy them. As an advertising creative director for 18 years, I worked in environment where every solution had to be different, novel and better than the previous one. I can’t do the same thing everyday.
Uniqueness inspires people. And inspiration is fuel for meaningful life. It inspires and motivates people to be better than what they were, personally or professionally besides making a task or interaction better while making you happier.
Mundane and monotone doesn’t inspire anyone.

photo gagan-design.com

photo gagan-design.com

What are you up to?
My vision is to create high-class art furniture and modern-minimal lighting accents that are not just good to look at but also affordable to own. Objects that are like no other.

We’re not manufacturers, we’re craftsmen. We take time to handcraft each piece, bit by bit, weaving a symphony just for you because we believe the human in us still appreciates a human touch, a hug over a like, a tete-a-tete over a tweet, for there is spirit and magic in things our hands touch against things that come out of a mold, for we truly believe… THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE STILL MADE BY HAND.™

At the moment we’re designing some more floor lamps and ceiling pendant ones. On the aviation side there’s an amazing ‘Bar’ project underway. The plane part in question is vertical fin from Bell Jet Ranger helicopter used for training by the RCAF.

photo gagan-design.com

We have asked A’Design Award and Competition several questions about this year’s competition:

What is expected from the designers once they enter the competition?

What we expect from designers is firstly to respect their own work, and show their designs the care they deserve; i.e. we expect all designers to make a very good presentation of what the work is, with questions such as why, how, when, where, who answered for each work; this pushes them to visualize better which is good for press appearances and publicity, meanwhile we also want designers to be able to talk about their work; this pushes them to think further about what makes their design unique, functional and relevant and how these aspects could be improved.

Tell us about the number of subscribers. Also, why do you think that so many designers apply?

Over 12.000 entries, from 208 countries in 105 categories; we have our presentation in 33 languages and we appeal to all design disciplines but that is not why there are so many entries; the actual reason is that those who join the previous years are rejoining each year and more new participants join each year especially to be able to obtain the A’ Design Prize which provides extensive publicity to winners.

We are mainly interested in the direction of the design today, as seen from inside the competition (we imagine that seeing the winners, you could tell the audience what is common in their works).

We see there is an ongoing trend of “auto-production” i.e. “makers” and designers use newly developed platforms and newly re-discovered technologies such as cnc cutting, 3d printing and others to create their own unique designs rather than being depended on companies to realize their ideas. I would say that it is sort of a new awakening, a design revolution, where designers discover once again to be innovators with capacity turn their ideas into reality.

Jonah Bokaer: The Combination of Visual Arts and Dance Is the Focus of My Entire Creative Output

Q

You were the youngest dancer hired at Merce Cunningham Company. Which are the first memories of this experience? How was it like to work there?

A

I would like to share an unusual perspective on this. Normally, I do not answer or consider questions about Merce Cunningham, as this has very little to do at all with the work I create: but upon deep reflection, I'd like to share that he and I had in something in common. We shared a quite total, uncompromising devotion to choreography.

When we look at your art, we realize that there is a constant through your work and that is energy. Where does that come from?

A

I hope and I think that the energy comes directly from me. With every collection extremely excited to do new experiments, tell a new story, make a new statement and to present interesting collections I can be proud of.
And good energy is part of that creation, showing and presentation to my clients.

Li Hongbo: There is a Chinese saying, life is as fragile as paper, which has left a deep impact on me

Q

You have managed to question the realism of sculptures through the flexibility of the paper. What do you see as the strengths of your chosen material, visually and conceptually?

A

At the beginning, I discovered the flexible nature of paper through Chinese paper toys and lanterns. I used this principle to make a gun. A gun is solid, used for killing, but I turned it into a tool for play, or decoration. In this way, it lost both the form of a gun and the culture inherent to the gun. It became a game.

rAndom international: We are interested in the reversal of the traditional roles of viewer and viewed

Q

What is interesting about your practice is the fact that this cold medium, which is media, becomes so warm and familiar. How do you get to do that?

A

For us, a material quality is inherent to a lot of the processes and ‘media’ that we use. It’s about focussing on that quality in everything we do; because it’s that quality which allows one to develop an emotional relationship with a space or an object.The concept is the crucial part and with our work that concept is often completed by the people and their physical participation.

AES+F: "Fear and anxiety about the future – a characteristic of our time."

Q

We know that 2007 was an important year for you, since your work became known on an international level. Let’s talk a little bit about two projects before that moment and I mention here Islamic Project, which was controversial. Through Islamic Project you stressed the fears western cultures have towards Islamists. Why are you interested in these issues?

A

Islamic Project (1996) is dedicated not only to Western fears of Islam, but rather to a visualization of mutual paranoia – both of the West and of Islamic fundamentalists. In 1996, we were interested in “globalization in reverse,” when not only the Internet and McDonald’s are moving to the east and south, but also when, for example, Islamic culture has an impact on the modern West.

10+1 Questions to be Handled with Care - Interview with Alexandra Pirici

Q

On a formal level, we may say that the public is deciding the dramaturgy of the performance by choosing a title/theme that they would like to see. I say formal, but maybe I should better use “conceptual”- implying that the public’s choice is a validation of the reenactment, re-creating the political situation that allows “iconic moments” to exist. How would you define the public’s role in the whole event- on a conceptual and physical level? (To what degree is the public’s participation a physical influence on the act of performing?)

A

The work was created for the context of Imagetanz festival in brut, Vienna and the curatorial frame had to do with “care” so I was also thinking of how to respond to the frame. The fact that the audience “orders” or chooses what they like to see has layered potentialities, for me. I do want them to feel “cared for” and entertained (I don’t shy away from the word, I find the concept of “counterculture” slightly dated) and I do want us, as performers, to make ourselves available for their requests.

A’Design Award is very prestigious and we‘re very excited to have won it. It is epitome for top design and innovation. Like any award of similar stature, A’Design is a platform that furthers great design by bringing the best at one lace and inspiring many others.

Your work is unsettling, almost surreal and the audience is instantly immersed into this universe. We find that your works are powerful and question the notion of beauty, since feathers are both plain beautiful as well as enchanting. Feathers are now your “trademark”. How was your art looked at in the beginning and how was it received on the art scene?

A

Before I started working with feathers I was also interested in bone, hair and other natural materials. My installation, Brood, which was made from 20,000 chicken wishbones, was bought by Charles Saatchi during my degree show. It was the work that really launched my career and confirmed my interest in beauty and brutality, the binary forces that exist within nature.

Jan Manski: "I’m Interested in Creating the Most Narcissistic of Worlds"

Q

We are curious to know, first of all, how you’ve imagined this project that has three parts: Possesia, Onania, Eugenica and why you specifically wanted it to be made of three parts. How are they linked, where does it start from and where are you taking it?

A

The project came gradually in time, it wasn’t pre-designed. The trilogy idea has emerged from years of process. Possesia started first, with initial ideas and sketches dating to 2007. It grew out of my obsessive collecting habits and interest in a specific period of Europe’s history, a period of innocence just before the First World War. For years I visited flea markets to collect curious antique objects and photographs that transported me to the time they had witnessed.

You said in an interview that some of your works are semi-autobiographical. Can you explain what about them is so and give us some examples?

A

They’re semi-autobiographical in that certain themes or motifs reflect what is happening to me at the time. For example, I draw more birds and plants in spring. I draw more skull and bones when things are coming to an end or dying. I draw guitars when I’ve been playing music. I draw wooden constructions when I’m building things.

Your works have a specific unity. They are easily recognizable. Do you think you’ve found your way of expression or do you think that you’re still searching?

A

That’s an interesting question… the visual language that I express through my works is not something I’ve been searching for. It’s something that came natural for me. Even expressing myself in different media the same visual language comes to the surface every time. The way I create reflects my imagination and how I see the world.

Saddo: "Art Is the Only Thing That Makes Me Feel Like I Have Some Kind of Purpose in Life"

Q

You said that the animals present in your works come from different mythologies and religions. Can you explain where they come from and why you are interested in these issues?

A

I’m fascinated by the animal and plant world, I love myths, fables, fantastic stories with characters that mix human and animal features, I love Walton Ford’s work, old naturalistic illustrations of plants and animals, the illustrations of Ernst Haeckel, etc. So you can see how all these personal tastes influence and shape my illustrations and paintings.

The application period for Spring 2015 Artist in Residence program is now open. 33OC seeks proposals from international professional artists interested in working within the Toffia environment for a one month period. 33OC Artist Residency program was developed to become a space & community where international artists can share places, experiences and sensibilities. The aim […]

Private studio retreats in a collaborative atmosphere for Spring 2015. Grin City Collective welcomes applications from artists of all disciplines at all stages of their career for residencies in rural Iowa, USA. Residents receive individual housing and studio space and may elect to participare in one of the following outreach programs: Social Practice Project: 1st Block […]

maumau writer-in-residence program the program aims to create an atmosphere for writers in which they can work isolated from everyday life while experiencing the inspiring nature of istanbul. please check the information document before you submit your application form to info@maumauworks.com with a topic “writer-in-residence program”. please specify the the residency you apply on the topic which residency […]

Applications are now being accepted for month long residencies at the Bellagio Center. Deadline: December 1, 2014 The Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center’s mission is to promote innovation, creativity, and impact-oriented solutions to critical global problems. Residencies and conferences at the Center, located in northern Italy, support work in the Foundation’s key issue areas: Advance Health, […]

Public Recordings: 8 DAYS IV – A Gathering of Choreographers An intensive encounter open to Canadian contemporary choreographers. 8 DAYS is an intensive encounter open to Canadian contemporary choreographers. The gathering values curiosity, questioning and reflection on how we work in order to deepen choreographic practices. The ongoing 8 DAYS project addresses a need for […]

Body Becoming ANIMA CASA RURAL ARTIST RESIDENCY Thematic Residency “Body Becoming.” BODY BECOMING : The body figures as the most important place upon which many of our stories play out. From the Greeks who admired and celebrated the nude, to the Confucian Koreans who covered it eroticizing only small amounts of visible skin, the body […]

Countryside Residency for International Artists in Rome, Italy Best of both worlds in this residency in the countryside just 40-minutes by train from vibrant Rome! Get inspired by this artist residency in the countryside of Rome! The non-profit organization ‘c.r.e.t.a. rome’ offers an international self-funded residency program in the countryside of Rome, Italy. The Italian […]

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INHALE is a cultural platform where artists are presented, where great projects are given credit and readers find inspiration.
Think about Inhale as if it were a map: we can help you discover which are the must-see events all over the world, what is happening now in the artistic and cultural world as well as guide you through the latest designers’ products. Inhale interconnects domains that you are interested in, so that you will know all the events, places, galleries, studios that are a must-see.
We have a 360 degree overview on art and culture and a passion to share.